Chapter 36 Ceremony

The plan for the founding ceremony was quickly proposed by the preparatory committee with Zhou Enlai as the director and Peng Zhen as the deputy directors.The main content of the plan includes three items: the inauguration ceremony of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, the military parade of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the parade of the people. "The Preparatory Committee believes that these three elements are essential to the founding ceremony of New China. Among the three, how the military parade is held, especially where the military parade is held, determines how the entire founding ceremony will be held. The issue of progress.” Ma Ju recalled, “Shortly after the establishment of the founding ceremony preparatory committee, a military parade command organization was established, and Nie Rongzhen, commander of the North China Military Region, served as the commander-in-chief of the military parade.”

"The "Military Parade Plan" drafted by Yang Chengwu and Tang Yanjie, the chief and deputy directors of the military parade command post, was quickly passed, but the members of the military parade command center mainly discussed the location of the military parade." Ma Ju said, "The military parade plan provides two The location is for the central government to finalize: one is Tiananmen Square in the city center; the other is Xiyuan Airport in the suburbs of the city.” Qian Tingtao, who was at the "University of Labor" at the time, recalled: "The two options have their own advantages and disadvantages: the streets around Tiananmen Square extend in all directions, and the troops under review and the people participating in the celebration are easy to gather. In particular, the Tiananmen Gate Tower is a ready-made parade platform, which is convenient Inspection. However, there were many people participating in the founding ceremony, and the urban traffic had to be interrupted for at least 4 hours on that day. In addition, Chang'an Avenue was not wide enough and had not been widened, so it could only pass horizontally through the 12th column of infantry, the 3rd column of cavalry and the 2nd column of armored vehicles; Xiyuan Airport The advantage of Beijing is that it has a wide airport runway, there is no worry of hindering traffic, and Mao Zedong and the central leadership have successfully held a military parade in Xiyuan when they first entered Beijing."

Another more important reason for the back and forth between these two options is still the security considerations at the beginning of the founding of the country. "At that time, the Kuomintang Air Force bombed Beiping Nanyuan Airport on May 4, damaging 4 planes, burning 196 houses, and killing 24 people. Although the 'Mustang' and 'Mosquito' fighters have small endurance and average radius of action None of them exceed the Longhai line, but because of the lessons learned from several air raids, air defense has always been the top priority of the Grand Ceremony." Qian Haobing said, "The most important thing when considering the Nanyuan Airport plan was from the perspective of air defense. In the suburbs, the terrain is open, and it is convenient for evacuation and concealment in case of an attack by the Kuomintang air force."

Weighing the results of the comparison, the command post tends to the first option.After the report was submitted to the Central Committee, Zhou Enlai signed his opinion on the upper left with a brush: the best location for the military parade is in front of Tiananmen Square.Liu Shaoqi drew a circle under his name. Air defense preparations for the Tiananmen Opening Ceremony began in July. "The Aviation Bureau of the Military Commission formed a squadron at Nanyuan Airport to be responsible for Beiping's air defense. The American-style announcement machine has set up a wireless network to communicate with the troops under review. A wired telephone switchboard is set up at the military parade command post to communicate with various points in Tiananmen Square and the square, and there is a dedicated telephone line with Nanyuan Airport. There is an aviation command platform on the roof of the Beijing Hotel. Air defense radio stations were set up in Daqiao and Tongxian vegetable fields. At that time, there were 1,978 horses in the parade cavalry, and special measures were taken to prevent them from running around if they were frightened.” Qian Haobing said, “The Aviation Bureau of the Military Five air defense stations were set up in Haizhou, Xiangshuikou, Suining, Xuzhou, and Shangqiu, and a communication team was stationed at the Heting Ancient Temple in Yunlong Mountain, facing Shanghai and Jiangsu to the south, and horizontal to Jinan and Qingdao to the north Contact, call every 20 minutes, and once an enemy plane is found, the number, type, and flight direction will be quickly transmitted to the north with a password. On the day of the founding ceremony, call once every 10 minutes. In order to deal with sudden situations, the organizer of the flight for the founding ceremony, Fang Huai, the former deputy commander of the Air Force of the Wuhan Military Region, suggested to Nie Rongzhen that at least four aircrafts to be reviewed should be equipped with live ammunition to prevent accidents, and this suggestion was finally adopted.”

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong announced at the grand ceremony, "Compatriots! The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China has been established today!" Rejuvenate China" in response to the call.Undoubtedly, for 1949, liberation has become a memory of the past. "The Communist Party of China took power" has a new meaning for the "liberation" of the world, and a new era has been opened.